Chrome OS is extremely purpose built and it is something that should bring about great concern to those at Microsoft. I personally don't have a problem with Windows 8, but purpose built is hardly a phrase that applies to the OS - at least if you're talking about it on a more traditional PC. I suspect by the time we get to Windows 9, Microsoft will have a better answer to the critics of 8/8.1, but that gives Google and its Chrome OS partners at least another year of marketshare erosion. At the beginning of this mobile journey I remember x86 being an advantage for Intel, and we all know what happened to that. Similarly, I remember Windows/Office being advantages for Microsoft. If Microsoft doesn't find a quick solution for making low cost Windows PCs just as well executed as Chrome OS devices, it'll find itself in a world where Windows no longer matters to entry-level/mainstream users.

Apple's taken over the high-end, Google is taking over the low-end, and in mobile, the company barely registers.

at my university they run linux where possible, and it's a complete mess

and office expensive?
you can buy it new for 100€, you can buy it used for 40€, if yuor uni has a deal with ms you can get it for >10€, and you can use openoffice for free (good luck with OOo if you need it to interact with other software...)